As someone who works for a newspaper, I can easily say that “change” is something that the media is facing on an almost daily basis.

However, I wasn’t aware that such major upheaval was in the offing!

Here’s an article about a revolutionary idea one local television station has in mind, from The Daily News:

>>Word that a Houston station is considering anchorless news has folks wondering whether this is the next wave of TV news or just a stunt to draw attention by a station with low ratings.

The answer is somewhere in between, but the mere thought of ditching anchors has TV news staffs wondering if it could happen here.

“You’re talking to a news person; I hope not,” Susan Sullivan, WNBC/Ch. 4 vice president of news, said earlier this week. “I’m very curious to see what they do.”

She’s not alone. News people have spent eons seeking ideas to freshen the decades-old local news format, with little success.

“I’m interested in how it’s going to flow,” Sullivan said. “They’re going to need people to tell the story. … People relate to people.”

The pilot for the newscast, which will air on KIAH-TV in Houston, was shot here at WPIX/Ch. 11. In addition to producing its own news, WPIX has also doing pilots for other Tribune channels. As reported earlier, some of the pilots have included Jodi Applegate, Curtis Sliwa and Laurie Dhue.

A Tribune spokesman said there’s no fixed air date for the anchorless test in Houston and called the concept “still a work-in-progress.”

The idea is flawed, say some local insiders (some of whom concede that they are paid to be on the air). They say that a key to local news is the tie between anchors and viewers.

Audiences are shrinking, they agree, but add that there’s an “intimate” and “familiar” bond with anchors, for better or worse. Take that out of the equation, and there’s a risk of losing a link–real or perceived–between the station and the audience.

Tribune brass have been pushing a change mantra for a while now. For example, look at how they post new jobs. One recent opening sought producers/editors for a new morning news/infotainment show, and asked applicants to sell management on, among other things, “your fiery passion to help reinvent the ’80s-rooted, focus-grouped, yuppie anchors and a news desk, super Doppler ultra weather style.”

Few would argue that local TV doesn’t need to be reworked, tweaked and updated to survive. But revolutionary is not a word synonymous with the news format. Heck, just evolutionary is a difficult concept in this field.

But no anchors? Not yet.

“When was the last time you heard anyone say, ‘Turn on Channel 6,’ ” said one local anchor, ” ‘I love their sound bites and video.'”

That would be, ah, never.<<

Here’s a collection of flubs from one local television news organization:

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